


Inch by Inch

by JauntyHako



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abuse by a family member, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst without plot, M/M, dont judge me, i live off Lucifer angst, what can i say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3302651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JauntyHako/pseuds/JauntyHako
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucifer's bruises never fade and Sam needs them to disappear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inch by Inch

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a drabble and ... escalated somewhat. I love myself some angst and this is just purely it, nothing well thought out, or plot-heavy.

Everyone knows that Lucifer is going to fail this year. He is absent more days than he is not and on the days he does show up he's slumped in the chair at the very back, staring out of the window. Occasionally teachers try to get him to participate. They always regret it. Lucifer has a way of getting under people's skin. He knows exactly what hurts them most and he uses that power for all its worth.

Sam is new, he doesn't know about this. He's been in this school for almost a month and this is the first time that he sees the boy, oversized hoodie, dark shadows under his eyes, a look on his face that scares Sam.

Mrs Winston writes down a math problem and asks someone to solve it for the class.

„What about you, Lucifer? You did this last year so well. Come on, give it a try.“ she says, trying to be encouraging. Lucifer looks up from under his hoodie – he hasn't even bothered to put pen and paper on his desk, sits with his hands in his pockets – and says deliberately slowly: „I'm surprised you remember, Mrs Winston. Wasn't that around the time they had to suspend you for a month because you were drunk? Maybe if you were actually good at your job, no one would have cared.“

He holds her stare, inch by inch, defiantly as she can only shake her head in disbelief.

Lucifer gets send to the principal's office and doesn't return for the rest of the day.

After lunch break they get a substitute for Mrs Winston.

 

 

Lucifer comes back to school the very next day. He doesn't talk about the black eye and the way he holds his ribs. One of the guys Sam knows says he got into a fight with some drug dealers. That they wanted to rip him off and he found out.

None of the teachers try to talk to Lucifer today. Most of them have given up on him by now, only dear Mrs Winston still tries, even though she knows he will exploit her weaknesses. But Sam watches him from the corner of his eyes. They sit close together and he _has_ heard the stories of Lucifer's short temper. He doesn't want to offend the guy, but nothing can stop him from looking at Lucifer's hands which are black and blue around the wrists but suspiciously free of bruises around his knuckles. 

_They held him down and beat him up._ Sam thinks, wondering how much of that drug dealer story is true. If it even was drug dealers. 

After class Lucifer takes his time to pack up. Usually he's the first out the door but this time he sits in his chair, staring at the desk. Sam wonders if he should talk to him. Ask him if he needs ointment for the bruises. Maybe ice. They look so fresh.

That's when he sees the man enter. He's young, only a few years older than Sam, with black hair, immaculate black shirt and hard eyes.

„Don't dawdle, Lucifer. I have to get to my next class after I drop you off.“

„Yes, brother dearest.“ Lucifer mumbles and looks at the man who regards him with an unimpressed expression. Sam feels like he's intruding and at the same time he wants to ask the guy what his problem is. His brother is hurt and he treats him like that? Dean would never be so cold to him.

He doesn't say any of that and watches Lucifer follow his brother out.

 

 

For a full week Lucifer shows up to every class, escorted by his older brother. Michael is his name, Sam finds out by asking around. Michael, who's at the top of the class and skipped one grade. Michael, who leads church group and has a girlfriend for three years but won't sleep with her until they are married. Michael who, Sam notices one day, has expensive brand-name clothes while Lucifer's trousers all have holes and his shirts are so washed out they're almost see-through.

The monday after Michael has dropped off Lucifer for class the last time, Lucifer is absent again. No one is surprised. Mr Newt makes a throwaway joke about the room being much brighter without Lucifer glowering in there. Sam doesn't think the room is much brighter. The empty seat next to him draws his whole attention.

He sees Lucifer during lunch break. He sits in his usual spot in the cafeteria as if he'd been attending class all day, munching on what passes for lunch in this school. For a moment Sam is tempted to walk over and ask if they can sit together. But then a bunch of guys walk over to Lucifer's table and the moment is over. They sit down around the boy without asking, laughing, joking. His friends, Sam thinks, until someone opens the bag of orange juice and pours it all over Lucifer's lunch. Lucifer says something, Sam can't hear what, but he hears the other boys raucous laughter. They mock him, but Lucifer sits without motion, glares at the boy who leads the band as if trying to memorise his face. Sam takes a second look as well, mostly because he wonders if he'll see the bully with bruises the next day (he does. The whole school sees the swollen cheek and the faded words written on his forehead with a sharpie:  **Bedwetter** . Lucifer always knows what gets to people.)

And that's when Sam comes to his first conclusion about Lucifer, who won't leave his mind.

This is his way of fighting. They want him meek and obedient, so he makes sure he is anything but. He looks them right in the eye, Mrs Winston, Michael, the bullies, and doesn't flinch, doesn't budge. He can't be defeated, can't be brought low. Sam wonders who tries to break him that Lucifer has to fight back so hard.

 

 

By now Sam's friends have noticed his growing crush on the school's resident bad boy. Half of them think it's adorable, a high school romance in their last year, before they all go off to college. The other half wonders what has Sam possessed that he fell for this abrasive, confrontational asshole. Sam doesn't really know himself.

Dean keeps quiet about Sam's crush. He trusts his little brother to take care of himself and doesn't interfere. Of course, Sam knows Dean has Lucifer's face etched into his memory for all eternity in case he should hurt his little brother and have a need of a sound beating.

They're out in town, Sam, Dean and Kevin and they walk right into the commotion. Police is there, the car parked on the sidewalk. They have to push through the gawkers to see what's happening. Sam hears the cursing, the thrashing and he knows before he breaks through. Lucifer is on the ground, two policemen holding him down. He fights teeth and nails, never once taking his eyes off the copper, staring him to the ground even as he lashes out at him. And then one of the men takes his head and  _slams_ it on the pavement. Sam's heart stops. Before he knows what he's doing he's in the middle of it all, throwing the cop who hurt Lucifer off and throwing punches like nothing else. He thinks he hears Dean cursing and someone keeps the other copper occupied while Sam hits the first one as often as he can. The cop's surprise wears off quickly though and Sam is no match for a 200 lb trained man.

 

 

The cell isn't too bad, all things considered. Sam sits between Lucifer on his right and Dean on his left, each one with their own set of bruises. Dean occasionally spits blood and Sam has a comment on his lips that he'll get the floor dirty until he remembers where they are. To keep his mind off the inevitable scolding they'll get as soon as their father gets here, he turns to Lucifer.

„Hey. You okay?“

Lucifer hasn't spoken since they got arrested, no word of thanks, no acknowledgement that someone stood up for him. Sam doesn't grudge him the attitude. The suspicion grows that this boy never had anyone stand up for him.

„'m okay.“ Lucifer's speech is a bit slurred and he has his eyes closed. Getting your head smashed on the pavement tends to make for one hell of a headache.

„You sure?“  
„Shut up.“ Lucifer growls and makes a motion as if he wants to hit Sam. He almost falls off the bench, but Sam's there, catches him, helps him sit upright again. Dean sinks back onto the bench from where he has jumped at the first hint of Sammy being in danger. He looks at Lucifer with barely veiled suspicion. Lucifer doesn't notice.

„When my Dad gets here, _then_ I won't be okay.“ he murmurs and Sam is sure he didn't mean for anyone to hear. 

„How'd you get in trouble with the cops?“ Sam asks and acts as if he hasn't heard.

„Tried to run away from home. Been gone for four days.“ Lucifer says and he's both proud and scared shitless.

Sam starts to understand.

It's Lucifer's Dad and his brother Michael who arrive first. Neither of them look too happy. Lucifer glares at Michael like Sam has seen him do before. But when his father comes up to the cell, waiting for the cop to open, for the first time since he has met him, Lucifer lowers his eyes. Sam sits close enough to feel it when he starts trembling. He wants to do something, keep Lucifer here, make him go home with Dean and him, anything. But his father grips his arm and drags him away as soon as the doors open. They stand a few feet off as the officer hands his father the paperwork. Michael stands by the cell, seemingly not fazed by what's going on. There is an almost irrepressible urge to scream at Michael, to curse him and kick him for standing by and doing nothing, while Lucifer cowers in fear of his father. But there's nothing Sam can do, and it drives him mad. But, like always, Dean is there and Dean somehow finds the right words.

„That's fucked up, you know, Mike?“ Michael turns a little away from them but makes otherwise no indication he even heard Dean.

„Ignore me all you want, you know I'm right. Lucifer is in for the beating of a lifetime and you just stand there and act as if it's the most normal thing in the world. You're a shitty excuse for a big brother.“

Michael flinches as if he's been punched. But he never answers, not when Lucifer is dragged away to the car and he follows, the obedient son that he is. Sam watches Lucifer disappear through the front door and that's the last he sees of him for two weeks.

 

He volunteers to bring Lucifer his homework. For the first time in perhaps ever Lucifer is legitimately excused for being absent, signed letter of his father and all. Technically someone has to go over and get him his homework. Only that it's Lucifer and no one really thinks a few weeks of missed homework is going to do much difference. But Sam needs an excuse to drop by Lucifer's house, find out where he lives, how he's doing. The teachers all look at him like he's gone mad but they can't very well deny him bringing another kid homework.

Dean drives him to Lucifer's place, a Victorian building with a nice front garden and even a little tower. For a moment Sam imagines Lucifer living up there in that tower and him riding to the rescue from his family.

But Lucifer doesn't live in the tower. He has a room in the cellar which he shares with discarded furniture, boxes full of random trash and a broken washing machine. That is all that Sam sees before Michael blocks his view, calling Lucifer up.

They sit in the kitchen, a stack full of homework between them on the table and it's getting awkward. Lucifer doesn't want to talk, Sam apparently has forgotten how.

„I … um, I could help you. If you want. We started a new topic in literature this week, that's a bi-“

„Do you really think I'm going to even touch this shit?“ Lucifer interrupts. Sam shrinks a little, but Lucifer isn't done yet.

„No one ever brings me homework and suddenly you little stalker show up all high and mighty? I don't think so. First this shit with the cops, now this. _What do you want from me?_ “

„I want to run away with you.“ Sam blurts out and immediately blushes crimson red. Great. Of all the brainless things he could have said. But it's enough to knock Lucifer off balance. He gets up, takes a step back as if he's afraid Sam has some contractable disease.

„You … what?“

„I … no, I. I mean …“ Sam stutters and then thinks _to hell with it_. „I want to help. I like you and I want us to be friends or … or, I don't know. And we'll have to start applying for college soon and you can still get your grades up enough and I want us to go to college together and move to another town so you're away from your family.“

Lucifer sits down again. Looks at Sam like he's a penguin that just waddled into his kitchen.

„Do you have any idea how delusional you sound?“

Sam has an idea. He wishes he could be ignorant of how damn childish he sounds but he knows. He just nods. There's no way he can ruin this any further. He just waits for Lucifer to kick him out.

He hears paper shuffling and risks a glance from under his eyelashes. Lucifer fiddles with the stack of homework.

„You said we have a new topic in lit?“ he asks very very softly. Like a man who wants to be delusional but doesn't dare.

„Y-yeah.“ Sam says and he realises that Lucifer has chosen to trust him, that it's taken a lot out of the guy to make even this small admission.

 

 

They spend almost every evening together from that day on. Lucifer's bruises never really fade, only wander from place to place, but when Sam is there, he almost looks content. A little less on edge, at least. Michael lets Sam in and sees him out again. Maybe it's his imagination but he thinks Michael gives him strange looks.

He doesn't think much about it, because he's more surprised at just how  _smart_ Lucifer is. It's like he picks up new information in his sleep. One day Sam has to explain the rule of three, the next Lucifer can rattle off complicated formulas from memory. His grades skyrocket, but he starts insulting people everytime they mention it. After a while they get the message and just ignore Lucifer's B's as if it happened every day.

It's nice, the time they spend together and Sam has almost forgotten about Lucifer's father.

It's a mistake that comes crashing down on him one evening when they sit together, for once not studying, but talking quietly.

Lucifer's father is not as tall as Sam's nor as strong but he is frightening nonetheless. He shoves a piece of paper at Lucifer's chest who almost falls over.

„What the hell is this?“

Sam doesn't have to look closely. It's Lucifer's college acceptance letter. He knows, because he got one just like it this week.

„I applied for college.“ Lucifer whispers, and again he trembles. This time Sam doesn't just sit there. He puts a hand on the small of Lucifer's back, subtle enough so his father won't see. He gets a grateful smile in return.

„I can see that, dumbass. What are you applying for college halfway across the states, is what I'd like to know. With your shit grades you'll never make it.“

„I … I ...“  
„Stop stuttering!“

Sam has never seen Lucifer cry. He thought he fights everyone, thought there is no way that he can be brought down.

Michael's standing in the doorway just behind his father. He's not saying anything but there's that strange look again.

„I … My grades got better. I'm studying. Sam's helping me, I ...“ Lucifer says. He stumbles over every word.

„Stop lying to me, boy. You know I don't like liars.“

Lucifer makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds like pain. Sam's heart clenches and when Lucifer's father steps up to his son, to beat him or berate him, he doesn't care, he stands up and between them.

„Get out of my house, kid.“

Sam shakes his head. He's too terrified to speak.

He needs Dean. Dean would know what to do, would help him out. But Dean isn't here.

 

Michael is.

„Stop it, father.“ he says and his voice is shaking just as much as Lucifer's was a second ago.

„Get downstairs, Michael. You know how this goes.“

Michael swallows and steps forward.

„Yes, father, I know. And the police knows as well. I called uncle Chuck and he's going to pick us up and the police is on their way here and they're going to arrest you.“

Sam's knees almost give away as the brother's father turns away from him.

„What kind of bullshit did Lucifer put you up to? Huh?“

„Lucifer didn't do anything.“ Michael says and whatever terror he feels it must give him wings because he continues: „Uncle Chuck hired a private investigator and he has proof of how you beat them. He has pictures and videos and we showed it all to the police and they're coming. You can't hurt Lucifer anymore. He's going to college and I'll take care of Anna, Castiel and Gabriel and when they're old enough _they_ are going to college as well. You won't hurt them anymore.“  
Just as Michael has finished they hear cars pulling up the driveway. Sam allows himself to relax the tiniest bit. He looks out of the window, sees two cars, police men getting out, a man and a woman each. He doesn't see the fist coming.

The pain flares through his jaw hot and heavy. He rolls away, reacts on instinct more than knowledge. No son of John Winchester didn't learn how to defend himself. But this man is stronger and he hits him again, just below the collarbone.

„You did this. You set up my own sons against me. You little ...“  
People are shouting but Sam's too busy not being beaten to a bloody pulp. Steps echo from the hallway and then pressure's gone, the weight of a grown man gone from his chest. Sam's coughing and wheezing but Lucifer's there, rubbing his back, saying something that Sam doesn't understand but sounds soothing nonetheless.

 

The next few hours are a rush. He, Lucifer and Michael get driven to the police station. There's a man there that Sam doesn't recognise but who, by the way Michael reacts to him, has to be uncle Chuck. Lucifer doesn't chime in with the greeting. He sits at Sam's side the whole time, doesn't move away from him once. Sam holds his hand when he tells the police about the abuse he suffered. His stomach turns at the things Lucifer says and by the looks of the officer who's writing it all down, he isn't the only one.

Michael is next, then Chuck. By the time Sam tells his own part in the story, Lucifer has fallen asleep against his shoulder.

It's past midnight when they return to the house. By now Sam has called Dean and he's there, Lucifer and Michael's little siblings all around him. The youngest, Anna, is eight at most, while Castiel and Gabriel are both in Sam's age. He thinks he has seen them around before but never noticed them. Not like he has Lucifer.

None of them want to sleep alone and Chuck doesn't insist on it. They spread out the sofa bed in the living room and cuddle together, Sam and Dean in the middle of them all. Lucifer is still soundly asleep against Sam's chest. Sam pretends not to notice the thumbsucking. Of all habits Lucifer could have picked up in an abusive household, this is by far not the worst.

 

 

Six months later Sam is away from Dean for the first time in his life. It feels daunting, not to have his big brother at his side any longer even if it's only for a while until Dean can find a job near Sam. But Lucifer's there, they share a dorm room and the first thing they did was to push the beds together. And when he looks at Lucifer full of affection and love Lucifer holds his gaze, inch by inch.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope this gets posted as it should. Internet crashed on me the first try, so if you see this double, bear with me until I take the second one down. (or you can leave kudos twice, I wouldn't complain about that)


End file.
